Excalidraw is an open-source virtual whiteboard started in January 2020 by Christopher Chedeau (vjeux) and released under the MIT license. Its defining trait is the hand-drawn feel: rectangles, arrows, and text render with wobbly strokes by default, so flowcharts, architecture sketches, and wireframes look like quick paper drawings rather than output from a diagramming suite. The online editor at excalidraw.com is free and requires no sign-up; the source code is hosted on GitHub, where it had accumulated about 130,000 stars as of 2026-08-30.

At a glance

  • URL: https://excalidraw.com
  • Type: Open-source online whiteboard and diagramming tool
  • Cost: The online editor is free; Excalidraw+ is the paid offering for teams
  • Registration: Not required for drawing, exporting, or local saving
  • Interface language: Dozens of interface languages, Simplified Chinese included

Background

The project began in January 2020 (the GitHub repository was created on 2020-01-02). According to the official blog's annual review, it reached roughly 3.5 million monthly active users by early 2025; 2024 brought a hand-drawn font for Chinese, Japanese, and Korean text, plus cross-device sync for the free tier. In May 2021 the team launched Excalidraw+, a paid product for team collaboration whose subscription revenue supports maintenance of the open-source core. The Electron desktop app was discontinued in December 2020 in favor of the web app and PWA. The repository remains active, with the most recent release v0.18.1 in April 2026 (as of 2026-08-30).

Core features

The Excalidraw online editor: shape toolbar on the left, a freely drawable canvas in the center

  • Hand-drawn drawing: Rectangles, diamonds, ellipses, arrows, lines, freehand pen, and text; connectors bind to shapes and follow them as things move. A matching hand-drawn font for Chinese, Japanese, and Korean text has been available since 2024.
  • Canvas and assets: Infinite canvas, dark mode, image insertion, and a set of official and community shape libraries.
  • Export and formats: Export to PNG or SVG, or copy to the clipboard; scenes are stored in the open .excalidraw JSON format rather than a proprietary silo.
  • Collaboration and sharing: Real-time multiplayer editing with end-to-end encryption for browser collaboration, plus shareable read-only links.
  • Offline and local-first: Installable as a PWA for offline use; content is autosaved in the browser by default.
  • Ecosystem: An official npm component, VS Code extension, and Obsidian plugin; Google Cloud, Meta, CodeSandbox, Notion, Replit, and others integrate Excalidraw (per the official README).

Accounts and open capabilities

The free editor works without an account for drawing, exporting, and local autosave; registering a free account adds cross-device scene sync. Excalidraw+, the paid tier aimed at team collaboration, offers pricing, team management, a roadmap, security compliance (SOC 2), and API and MCP documentation through the official site (checked 2026-08-30). The entire codebase is MIT-licensed and can be self-hosted or embedded.

When it is useful

  • Architecture sketches and flow diagrams during technical discussions
  • Quick product prototypes and page wireframes
  • A shared whiteboard for remote meetings and pair programming
  • Illustrations for teaching and articles
  • Embedding drawing capability into your own product or docs tool

Limitations

  • It is a sketching tool: no precise dimensioning, and it is unsuitable for engineering-grade or print-quality diagrams.
  • Cross-device sync requires a free account; team workspaces, permissions, and other organizational features depend on the paid tier or self-hosting.
  • The hand-drawn look is the default aesthetic; neat, formal diagrams call for a different tool.
  • Collaboration is relayed through the official servers (mitigated by end-to-end encryption), so teams with strict data-residency requirements should evaluate it first.

Similar tools

diagrams.net (draw.io) leans toward precise flowcharts and engineering diagrams, tldraw is another open-source canvas, and Miro represents the commercial online whiteboard category.

References